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A review by blurrypetals
Evil by Tijan
5.0
I honestly am not sure what to do with myself right now. I've changed the out of five rating at least ten times while I've sat here, considering how to kick off the review. I'm sure I'll keep changing it as I go on.
This book is an absolute fucking mess. Like, holy god it's an absolute shitshow when it comes to pacing, the characterization of the protagonist is practically non-existent, and the plot is fucking bananas. However, I get the feeling the author doesn't give a fuck if it's good, and maybe that's why, with all that said...I loved it. I will not be putting it on my favorites shelf, I will definitely not be recommending it to anybody I know anytime soon. This book is Not Good. This book is, however, incredibly fucking entertaining and I'm sort of going through an existential crisis as I stare at this review, moving the out of five rating from two to three to four to five, back down to two then back up to five. I just honestly can't believe I loved this book as much as I did and I'm having trouble reconciling it with myself.
So here are some actual thoughts about things in the book rather than a detailed account of me spiraling.
Here's the first thing: even thought Shay (Is that her name? Did I remember it? I am too exhausted with myself to go check if I'm correct to be perfectly candid) is like SCARY fucking quick to get on board with the fact that Kellan, a person she thought was her actual, full-blooded older brother for most of her life, is actually her soul mate who has been posing as her brother to stay close to her and protect her. One of the status updates I made was a few chapters into the book, when it was VERY. STRONGLY. IMPLYING. INCEST. I merely asked, "i...is it kosher to ship this...?" because I was terrified I was shipping incest. Then, not much later, we find that it is kosher to ship this because they are not brother and sister, everybody, it's cool. There is no incest to be found here.
Um I genuinely have no idea where I'm trying to take this. I can't explain myself, I really can't. I would say I'm sorry but I don't think I am, at least not right now. I had fun and FUN/10 = 5/5 to me I guess. I don't know what else to say so I'm just gonna...go...hide in shame. LOVE YOU BYE SEE YOU IN THE NEXT ONE.
Unrelated addendum: This is the latest in a string of books I got because Jorjeana Marie narrated them. This was, by far, the weirdest casting choice I've seen for her. She's usually cast as the sweet girl who lived a charmed enough life until that one thing happened or that one person showed up (see: We Are Okay, Exit Pursued By a Bear, If There's No Tomorrow, and The Boy Most Likely To) so it's a bit odd, having listened to all of those books where she clearly has a type of character and narration style where she fits and blooms beautifully, to see her playing the demon girl who's the most powerful person in her family of demons, has toyed with boys' hearts, and so on. It wasn't a bad choice (especially since I think she's incapable of doing a bad job with anything) just different and interesting. I'd have cast someone like Saskia Maarleveld or Lauren Fortgang, but it was cool to see Jorjeana Marie kind of sort of playing against type here. She also did a good job with Kellan's voice; it really showed off her range. I love her.
This book is an absolute fucking mess. Like, holy god it's an absolute shitshow when it comes to pacing, the characterization of the protagonist is practically non-existent, and the plot is fucking bananas. However, I get the feeling the author doesn't give a fuck if it's good, and maybe that's why, with all that said...I loved it. I will not be putting it on my favorites shelf, I will definitely not be recommending it to anybody I know anytime soon. This book is Not Good. This book is, however, incredibly fucking entertaining and I'm sort of going through an existential crisis as I stare at this review, moving the out of five rating from two to three to four to five, back down to two then back up to five. I just honestly can't believe I loved this book as much as I did and I'm having trouble reconciling it with myself.
So here are some actual thoughts about things in the book rather than a detailed account of me spiraling.
Here's the first thing: even thought Shay (Is that her name? Did I remember it? I am too exhausted with myself to go check if I'm correct to be perfectly candid) is like SCARY fucking quick to get on board with the fact that Kellan, a person she thought was her actual, full-blooded older brother for most of her life, is actually her soul mate who has been posing as her brother to stay close to her and protect her. One of the status updates I made was a few chapters into the book, when it was VERY. STRONGLY. IMPLYING. INCEST. I merely asked, "i...is it kosher to ship this...?" because I was terrified I was shipping incest. Then, not much later, we find that it is kosher to ship this because they are not brother and sister, everybody, it's cool. There is no incest to be found here.
Um I genuinely have no idea where I'm trying to take this. I can't explain myself, I really can't. I would say I'm sorry but I don't think I am, at least not right now. I had fun and FUN/10 = 5/5 to me I guess. I don't know what else to say so I'm just gonna...go...hide in shame. LOVE YOU BYE SEE YOU IN THE NEXT ONE.
Unrelated addendum: This is the latest in a string of books I got because Jorjeana Marie narrated them. This was, by far, the weirdest casting choice I've seen for her. She's usually cast as the sweet girl who lived a charmed enough life until that one thing happened or that one person showed up (see: We Are Okay, Exit Pursued By a Bear, If There's No Tomorrow, and The Boy Most Likely To) so it's a bit odd, having listened to all of those books where she clearly has a type of character and narration style where she fits and blooms beautifully, to see her playing the demon girl who's the most powerful person in her family of demons, has toyed with boys' hearts, and so on. It wasn't a bad choice (especially since I think she's incapable of doing a bad job with anything) just different and interesting. I'd have cast someone like Saskia Maarleveld or Lauren Fortgang, but it was cool to see Jorjeana Marie kind of sort of playing against type here. She also did a good job with Kellan's voice; it really showed off her range. I love her.